


[Fandom stats] Biggest fandoms, ships, and characters on AO3 (2021)

by toastystats (destinationtoast)



Series: Fandom Stats [103]
Category: Fandom - Fandom
Genre: Fanwork Research & Reference Guides, Meta, Nonfiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-18 20:00:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29249172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/destinationtoast/pseuds/toastystats
Summary: What it says on the tin. :)
Series: Fandom Stats [103]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/60910
Comments: 29
Kudos: 171





	[Fandom stats] Biggest fandoms, ships, and characters on AO3 (2021)

**Author's Note:**

> Also available as [slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/16aiR57-R-x3qcFrNOaB6LotVrYITsA6MYpm-0dZBPIE/edit?usp=sharing).
> 
> I originally was missing some top ships from the list below; pretty sure I've remedied that error, but if you see missing items from any of the missing lists, please LMK in the comments.
> 
> Also, lol... despite what the slides say, the data is actually all from February 2021. I've just forgotten how time works at this point. ;)

[](https://photos.app.goo.gl/vsptvafGTGeAb5UFA)

Also see my November post, "[AO3 in 2020](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27315784)," for recent trends -- what fandoms have been active lately, etc. 

[](https://photos.app.goo.gl/s9qnSHWstrCjuUH86)

Note that for this, as for almost all of my analyses, only public (non-locked) fanworks are counted here. So if you're logged into AO3, you'll see bigger numbers. 

There are some overlapping fandom tags shown here, but I weeded out many more. I only included fandom tags that are frequently used by fans, rather than being mostly used as AO3 meta tags -- I did that by including just the fandom tags where the first fandom tag listed in the Sort & Filter sidebar is the same as the tag itself. For instance, “Marvel” -- the biggest fandom tag -- was weeded out because the first fandom listed for that tag is not “Marvel”, but instead is “Marvel Cinematic Universe.” Whereas “Video Blogging RPF” was left in even though it doesn’t seem very specific, because it gets used a lot by fans; the first fandom listed for that tag is indeed “Video Blogging RPF.” And two versions of Star Wars are included -- "All Media Types" and "Sequel Trilogy" -- because both of those tags get used a huge amount by fans, on overlapping but substantially different sets of fanworks. 

I made a few minor formatting edits to some fandom tags, like abbreviating the tags for BNHA and SNK to make them shorter. 

See longer list below \-- including all the fandom tags that I removed from the above slide -- or click through to [the spreadsheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DVAXla-VINceqT_pTQU6ZbjFTm0o4JoyzE4cANpF5pc/edit?usp=sharing) for even more data about all of these fandoms. 

[](https://photos.app.goo.gl/Zxcz4TePZrDyeBw78)

If you're interested in ships on AO3, I strongly recommend centrumlumina’s [AO3 Ship Stats](https://centrumlumina.tumblr.com/post/150909807989/ao3-ship-stats-masterpost) series for a deeper dive into ship demographics and changes over time. 

I again shortened a few tags above, like 'Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug' and 'James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers.' Parenthetical fandoms also removed from some tag names. 

**Edit for clarification** : The fandom tag shown is the most common one for the given ship. But the number of fanworks shown includes _all_ fanworks for that ship tag, not just the ones that also use the shown fandom tag. 

See longer list below, or click through to [the spreadsheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DVAXla-VINceqT_pTQU6ZbjFTm0o4JoyzE4cANpF5pc/edit#gid=1025272489) for even more data. 

[](https://photos.app.goo.gl/aTfVbAF4XuVtTrxj6)

Parenthetical fandoms again removed from some tag names.

**Edit for clarification** : The fandom tag shown is the most common one for the given character. But the number of fanworks shown includes _all_ fanworks for that character tag, not just the ones that also use the shown fandom tag. 

See longer list below, or click through to [the spreadsheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DVAXla-VINceqT_pTQU6ZbjFTm0o4JoyzE4cANpF5pc/edit#gid=1361707518) for even more data. 

**List of fandom tags with>25,000 public fanworks:**
    
    
    451,047 	Marvel
    370,243 	Marvel Cinematic Universe
    368,194 	K-pop
    329,821 	Real Person Fiction
    281,739 	Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
    232,621 	Supernatural
    210,561 	DCU
    184,188 	The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
    180,322 	The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
    156,001 	The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
    150,891 	僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
    143,853 	Star Wars - All Media Types
    143,595 	방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
    130,335 	Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
    117,979 	Sherlock (TV)
    113,186 	Teen Wolf (TV)
    106,865 	Original Work
    96,745 	Haikyuu!!
    96,445 	Video Blogging RPF
    95,916 	Captain America - All Media Types
    86,039 	Captain America (Movies)
    82,798 	Actor RPF
    80,661 	Doctor Who & Related Fandoms
    77,084 	Voltron: Legendary Defender
    73,283 	Star Trek
    70,047 	TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms
    68,530 	Dragon Age - All Media Types
    66,718 	Naruto
    65,086 	Final Fantasy
    64,000 	Doctor Who
    63,040 	Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
    62,502 	Dragon Age (Video Games)
    62,417 	Music RPF
    59,339 	One Direction (Band)
    58,178 	Batman - All Media Types
    57,730 	A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms
    56,497 	Disney - All Media Types
    55,000 	DCU (Comics)
    54,831 	MS Paint Adventures
    54,694 	Homestuck
    52,981 	Bandom
    51,495 	Sports RPF
    50,732 	Rock Music RPF
    50,501 	Fire Emblem Series
    49,700 	Stargate - All Media Types
    49,074 	Spider-Man - All Media Types
    47,841 	Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
    47,689 	Thor (Movies)
    47,179 	Once Upon a Time (TV)
    46,959 	Game of Thrones (TV)
    45,294 	Arthurian Mythology & Related Fandoms
    44,615 	Iron Man (Movies)
    43,469 	Marvel (Comics)
    42,986 	Doctor Who (2005)
    41,892 	Merlin (TV)
    41,413 	A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
    39,540 	EXO (Band)
    39,374 	Hetalia: Axis Powers
    39,328 	NCT (Band)
    39,187 	ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 | JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
    38,670 	The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
    38,098 	Glee
    37,808 	Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
    37,249 	Miraculous Ladybug
    37,026 	Transformers - All Media Types
    37,018 	Dragon Age: Inquisition
    36,628 	Undertale (Video Game)
    36,408 	Marvel 616
    35,885 	魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
    35,779 	Overwatch (Video Game)
    35,053 	The 100 (TV)
    34,090 	Good Omens (TV)
    33,591 	The Hobbit - All Media Types
    33,579 	X-Men - All Media Types
    33,571 	PRATCHETT Terry - Works
    32,853 	Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
    32,077 	Supergirl (TV 2015)
    31,697 	GAIMAN Neil - Works
    31,360 	Shadowhunters (TV)
    31,222 	Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
    30,654 	Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
    30,566 	Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
    30,565 	Star Wars: Rise of Empire Era - All Media Types
    30,414 	Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
    30,153 	Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
    27,906 	Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
    27,622 	Final Fantasy XV
    27,504 	Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
    27,216 	Stargate Atlantis
    27,117 	Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
    26,997 	Hannibal Lecter Series - All Media Types
    26,553 	X-Men (Movieverse)
    26,480 	The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
    26,457 	Sanders Sides (Web Series)
    26,336 	Hannibal (TV)
    26,151 	Shin Megami Tensei Series
    25,809 	The Flash - All Media Types
    25,535 	One Piece
    25,388 	文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs
    25,068 	RWBY
    25,050 	The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms

**List of ships with>10,000 public fanworks:**
    
    
    92,153 	Castiel/Dean Winchester
    63,087 	Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
    61,218 	Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
    52,171 	"Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
    45,123 	Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
    38,446 	Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
    34,350 	Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
    33,266 	Aziraphale/Crowley
    31,184 	Keith/Lance
    28,558 	Dean Winchester/Sam Winchester
    26,786 	Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
    26,023 	Jeon Jungkook/Kim Taehyung | V
    25,955 	Merlin/Arthur Pendragon
    25,160 	Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov
    24,289 	Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
    22,165 	Chat Noir/Ladybug
    21,161 	Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku
    21,063 	Min Yoongi | Suga/Park Jimin
    20,799 	Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
    20,540 	Jeon Jungkook/Park Jimin
    20,164 	Peter Parker & Tony Stark
    19,833 	Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
    19,521 	Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn
    19,028 	Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou
    18,567 	Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
    18,115 	Sherlock Holmes & John Watson
    18,102 	Kim Namjoon | RM/Kim Seokjin | Jin
    17,448 	Dan Howell/Phil Lester
    16,854 	Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel
    16,507 	Midoriya Izuku/Todoroki Shouto
    15,266 	Kylo Ren/Rey
    15,219 	Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier
    14,698 	Levi Ackerman/Eren Yeager
    14,686 	Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
    14,680 	Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
    14,210 	Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru
    14,099 	Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
    13,962 	Jung Hoseok | J-Hope/Min Yoongi | Suga
    13,628 	Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin
    13,487 	Gabriel/Sam Winchester
    13,483 	Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
    13,452 	Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
    13,373 	Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki
    13,269 	Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
    13,263 	Loki/Thor (Marvel)
    12,980 	Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan
    12,766 	James T. Kirk/Spock
    12,250 	Harry Potter/Severus Snape
    12,216 	Rodney McKay/John Sheppard
    12,211 	Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams
    12,178 	Clarke Griffin/Lexa
    12,154 	Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
    12,062 	James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
    12,042 	Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich
    11,683 	Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
    11,607 	Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov
    11,293 	Kim Taehyung | V/Park Jimin
    11,288 	Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak
    11,024 	Enjolras/Grantaire (Les Misérables)
    10,865 	Original Female Character/Original Male Character
    10,837 	Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren
    10,826 	Dazai Osamu/Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs)
    10,821 	Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou
    10,784 	Clint Barton/Phil Coulson
    10,699 	Captain Hook | Killian Jones/Emma Swan
    10,687 	Jeon Jungkook/Min Yoongi | Suga
    10,628 	Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
    10,505 	Mycroft Holmes/Greg Lestrade
    10,342 	Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
    10,302 	Loki/Tony Stark
    10,251 	Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester
    10,249 	Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield
    10,166 	Castiel & Dean Winchester
    

**List of characters with>25,000 public fanworks:**
    
    
    179,768 	Dean Winchester	Supernatural
    168,168 	Steve Rogers	Marvel Cinematic Universe
    165,603 	Tony Stark	Marvel Cinematic Universe
    143,774 	Sam Winchester	Supernatural
    120,471 	Harry Potter	Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
    119,930 	Castiel	Supernatural
    111,632 	James "Bucky" Barnes	Marvel Cinematic Universe
    103,187 	Natasha Romanov	The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
    100,790 	Sherlock Holmes	Sherlock (TV)
    92,265 	Jeon Jungkook	방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
    90,113 	Park Jimin	방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
    89,071 	Min Yoongi | Suga	방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
    88,773 	Clint Barton	The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
    86,657 	Kim Taehyung | V	방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
    86,019 	Stiles Stilinski	Teen Wolf (TV)
    85,339 	John Watson	Sherlock (TV)
    76,826 	Midoriya Izuku	僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
    75,750 	Hermione Granger	Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
    74,958 	Kim Namjoon | RM	방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
    74,928 	Draco Malfoy	Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
    74,056 	Bakugou Katsuki	僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
    71,525 	Kim Seokjin | Jin	방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
    71,371 	Jung Hoseok | J-Hope	방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
    69,914 	Derek Hale	Teen Wolf (TV)
    65,928 	Peter Parker	Marvel Cinematic Universe
    60,239 	Thor (Marvel)	The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
    58,108 	Keith (Voltron)	Voltron: Legendary Defender
    57,973 	Bruce Banner	The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
    53,227 	Loki (Marvel)	Thor (Movies)
    51,443 	Ron Weasley	Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
    51,053 	Lance (Voltron)	Voltron: Legendary Defender
    48,498 	Ben Solo | Kylo Ren	Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
    47,537 	Shiro (Voltron)	Voltron: Legendary Defender
    47,436 	Severus Snape	Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
    46,534 	Harry Styles	One Direction (Band)
    46,158 	Todoroki Shouto	僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
    45,708 	Scott McCall (Teen Wolf)	Teen Wolf (TV)
    45,344 	Bruce Wayne	Batman - All Media Types
    43,600 	Louis Tomlinson	One Direction (Band)
    43,335 	Sirius Black	Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
    43,055 	Sam Wilson (Marvel)	Marvel Cinematic Universe
    42,142 	Castiel (Supernatural)	Supernatural
    41,312 	Remus Lupin	Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
    41,262 	Pepper Potts	Marvel Cinematic Universe
    41,227 	Kirishima Eijirou	僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
    39,296 	Dick Grayson	Batman - All Media Types
    37,512 	Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead	僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
    37,429 	Mycroft Holmes	Sherlock (TV)
    35,520 	Aziraphale (Good Omens)	Good Omens (TV)
    35,300 	Crowley (Good Omens)	Good Omens (TV)
    35,000 	Rey (Star Wars)	Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
    32,006 	Hunk (Voltron)	Voltron: Legendary Defender
    31,996 	Jason Todd	Batman - All Media Types
    31,310 	Lydia Martin	Teen Wolf (TV)
    31,258 	Uraraka Ochako	僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
    31,223 	Niall Horan	One Direction (Band)
    31,034 	Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug	Miraculous Ladybug
    30,481 	Liam Payne	One Direction (Band)
    30,396 	Ginny Weasley	Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
    29,965 	Greg Lestrade	Sherlock (TV)
    29,521 	Zayn Malik	One Direction (Band)
    29,033 	Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir	Miraculous Ladybug
    28,742 	Merlin (Merlin)	Merlin (TV)
    28,712 	Alec Lightwood	Shadowhunters (TV)
    28,422 	Kaminari Denki	僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
    28,243 	James T. Kirk	Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
    28,099 	Allura (Voltron)	Voltron: Legendary Defender
    27,917 	Levi Ackerman	Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
    27,700 	Victor Nikiforov	Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
    27,658 	Clarke Griffin	The 100 (TV)
    27,627 	Magnus Bane	Shadowhunters (TV)
    27,573 	Katsuki Yuuri	Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
    27,299 	Pidge | Katie Holt	Voltron: Legendary Defender
    27,220 	Emma Swan	Once Upon a Time (TV)
    27,100 	Hinata Shouyou	Haikyuu!!
    26,805 	Sans (Undertale)	Undertale (Video Game)
    26,794 	Tim Drake	Batman - All Media Types
    26,520 	Eren Yeager	Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
    26,104 	Gabriel (Supernatural)	Supernatural
    25,996 	James Potter	Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
    25,969 	Yagi Toshinori | All Might	僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
    25,819 	Kara Danvers	Supergirl (TV 2015)
    25,784 	Oikawa Tooru	Haikyuu!!
    25,740 	Albus Dumbledore	Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
    25,668 	Sansa Stark	Game of Thrones (TV)
    25,538 	Kuroo Tetsurou	Haikyuu!!
    25,499 	Uzumaki Naruto	Naruto
    25,272 	Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)	Merlin (TV)


End file.
